Can we stop talking about titanium yet?

The iPhone 15 Pro is made of titanium. If I know nothing else about Apple’s flagship, I know it’s titanium. It’s mentioned in every single piece of advertising, whether it’s from Apple itself or a carrier like T-Mobile. The titanium somehow outweighs other features like the cameras and software features. Now, Samsung has a titanium flagship of its own to join the best Androids on the market. Yes, the Galaxy S24 Ultra has ditched its trusty Armor Aluminum frame for a more premium metal, and you know what? I don’t care.

Precious metal, but at what cost?

I get it; titanium has benefits over other metals like aluminum and stainless steel. In Apple’s case, the change made its iPhone 15 Pro series lighter, which is a good thing after the relatively hefty iPhone 14 Pro. Samsung chose titanium over aluminum because it improved the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s durability — also a good thing. However, neither reason justifies a mountain of advertising that boils down to, “Hey, look, titanium.”

Maybe I’m being a bit dramatic to put it that way (I have to drive clicks somehow), but maybe not. Apple has a 39-second advertisement titled “Titanium,” and it’s racked up 22 million views on YouTube. What do you learn about the iPhone 15 Pro other than that it’s made of a precious new metal from the depths of space? Literally nothing — except that it’s available at AT&T.

Thankfully, Samsung hasn’t leaned too heavily into its choice of metals in advertising the Galaxy S24 Ultra — not yet, anyway. Instead, it’s letting the new suite of Galaxy AI features take center stage in the immediate aftermath of its first Unpacked event of 2024, which is a refreshing change. After all, the Galaxy AI features are new, but we’ve had titanium for a long, long time.

Perhaps my most significant bone to pick with leaning on titanium as the greatest thing since sliced bread is that I’m just going to put my phone in a case. It doesn’t matter if it’s plastic, glass, or metal; it’s going in a case, so all I’ll see is rubber and polycarbonate anyway. We’ve picked out several of our favorite cases for the Galaxy S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro, by the way. Last I checked, a titanium frame doesn’t protect the glass front or back of a device, either — both of which are more prone to damage than the frame.

Unfortunately, people will still buy the iPhone 15 Pro and Galaxy S24 Ultra because they’re made of titanium, which sounds fancy. It is fancy if we’re being honest, but that doesn’t make it a good reason to spend more than $1,000 on a smartphone. Buy your phone for the cameras, software features, or how it integrates with the rest of your tech, but please, just think of a titanium frame as the cherry on top.